Will Hall claimed one of the biggest prizes in hillclimbing when he set a new outright hill record at Shelsley Walsh during round nine of the British Hillclimb Championship last weekend.
Although the full 1000-yard Shelsley hill had been resurfaced over the winter, few people expected record-breaking times this early in the season. But, as competition day dawned dry and reasonably warm, following a wet and cold practice day on Saturday, the times started to tumble.
In winning the first of the day’s two top-12 run-offs, Hall delivered the fastest climb ever made of the 125-year-old hill with a time of 22.33s to shave four hundredths of a second off the five-year-old record set by Sean Gould in August 2021. Prior to Gould’s record, the mark stood for 13 years to Martin Groves at 22.58s.
It was a result that drew a rapturous reception from a big crowd and an equally enthusiastic response from the close-knit hillclimbing paddock, as Hall’s chief rivals Matthew Ryder and Wallace Menzies were among the first to congratulate the Midlander on his achievement.
“It wasn’t a perfect run,” said Hall. “But it wasn’t too far off. I think there’s a little bit more still to come, perhaps, into Bottom Ess. It’s just about being brave enough to stay on the throttle later. It is very special for me, as I’ve been coming to Shelsley all of my life. I first came when I was in a push chair when my dad was competing. I just wish he was here to see it now.”
Hall’s new benchmark has propelled him to a nine-point lead
Photo by: Ben Lawrence
Hall had to dig deep to win as Ryder had already set a 22.54s in the battle of the three Gould GR59s. Menzies was also below the 23s mark at 22.91s.
The second run-off ran in falling temperatures later in the day, with a hint of rain in the air, and times were a little slower. It was David Uren who set the mark this time around for Hall with a mighty 22.98s climb in his older Gould GR55.
However, in the last run of the day, Hall did it again and set the winning time in 22.72s to complete a perfect day. Menzies rounded out the podium this time around as Ryder slipped to fourth with a car not feeling quite right for the conditions.
Trevor Willis had a very good day in his OMS 28 to take a fourth and a fifth while Paul Haimes maintained his sparkling run of form in his 1300cc turbocharged GR59 to twice claim sixth place. Sadly missing from the run-offs was rising star Alex Coles after he suffered a blown engine in practice in his 1300cc supercharged Force TA.
This was a very special day for the discipline, as the Shelsley outright record is the holy grail of UK hillclimbing. Former record holder Gould was on hand to applaud his rival on a day that truly established Hall as one of the biggest names of British hillclimbing, while he also extended his championship lead over Ryder to nine points.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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